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Footer

Last updated on July 29, 2024

An illustration of the footer component

The footer is used to display secondary information and navigation.

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Get this component:

How to use this component

The footer should appear at the bottom of the page or screen. Do not use more than one instance of the footer component.

The footer is used to:

  • Display the territorial acknowledgment used on gov.bc.ca and other B.C. government websites
  • Communicate authorship and copyright information
  • Display supporting and/or low-priority information about a product or website
  • Provide a secondary navigation menu

The content of the footer should remain consistent across each page or screen.

Structure and behaviour

An annotated diagram of the footer component

Anatomy

In its default configuration, the footer component has:

  1. A full-width territorial acknowledgment statement on a dark grey background
  2. A solid gold divider below the territorial acknowledgment
  3. A logo and text content on the left of the main content area
  4. A secondary navigation menu on the right of the main content area
  5. A copyright statement line at the bottom of the component

You can display or hide each section discretely.

Behaviour

  • By default, the logo in the footer is not hyperlinked
  • At smaller viewport sizes, the navigation menu collapses underneath the secondary content area
  • Copyright year is set automatically to the current year

Design guidance

Design system components are published in a Figma library. Install the library and add it to your project to start using this component.

Get the design library in Figma

The footer component includes default content, based on the gov.bc.ca footer. You can modify this content to fit your specific needs. 

A set of controls are provided for ease of prototyping:

Control Options Description
Type
  • Default
  • Swap

Toggles between a set of default content based on gov.bc.ca, and a generic content area where you can swap in other components
Land acknowledgment
  • On
  • Off

Toggles display of the territorial acknowledgment block
Content
  • On
  • Off

Toggles display of the secondary content/navigation block
Copyright
  • On 
  • Off

Toggles display of the copyright statement block

Additional controls are provided to help you manipulate the content and layout of each of the footer's subcomponents. 

Technical information

Detailed technical documentation, interactive previews and code samples are published in the B.C. Design System Storybook.

View this component in Storybook

A reference implementation of the footer component in React is published in the React components library. Install the package via npm to start using the component.

Supported props

The component includes props to configure:

  • Content:
    • Territorial acknowledgment
    • Logo
    • Secondary content
    • Navigation menu
    • Copyright statement
  • Visibility:
    • Territorial acknowledgment area
    • Content and navigation area
    • Copyright area

Accessibility

These summaries reflect the component used as provided. If you modify it, confirm that your changes comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). B.C. government digital services are required to meet the WCAG Level AA standard.

Accessibility checklist for the footer component
Requirement WCAG Success Criterion Validation
Allow users to resize text 1.4.4 (Level AA)

Footer content reflows as user increases text size
Use responsive design to avoid losing content or context 1.4.10 (Level AA)

Footer content reflows as viewport size decreases
Make websites keyboard accessible 2.1.1 (Level A)

Footer is navigable and operable via keyboard, with visual indicators for focused elements
Prevent keyboard navigation traps 2.1.2 (Level A)

Footer has no keyboard traps
Ensure content reads in the right order for people using assistive technology 2.4.3 (Level A)

Keyboard tab moves focus state through footer elements from left to right
Show where the keyboard is active on the screen 2.4.7 (Level AA)

Focused elements are indicated with a visible border
Ensure user interface components behave predictably 3.2.1 (Level A)

Footer elements like menu items do not activate on focus, but when the user presses the enter key
Use consistent navigation 3.2.3 (Level AA)

Footer content should remain consistent across all usages (configuration-dependent)
Make sure components can be read and used by assistive technology 4.1.2 (Level A)

Footer is semantically identifiable as a <footer> element